1-800-FLOWERS.COM Sets Up Shop Inside Facebook

In another testament to the notion that Facebook is quietly turning into the internet on top of the Internet, online flower retailer 1-800-Flowers.com has launched an e-commerce store inside its Facebook Page.

Registered users can now order all kinds of floral products from the popular florist and gift shop without ever leaving the social network.

1-800-FLOWERS is a bit of a pioneer when it comes to initiatives like this. In 1992 (!), the company was already fiddling with selling goods via the Internet, and two years later it became the first merchant of any kind to transact on AOL. Now, at least according to the company, it’s the first online retailer to launch a fully functional commercial storefront inside Facebook. Somehow, I doubt that statement rings true, but I couldn’t immediately think of or find any other e-commerce outlets that can handle online orders from a to z inside Facebook.

Alas, when I did a search on Facebook for “1-800-flowers”, the very first result was a group unambiguously called 1-800-Flowers Sucks and when I filtered down the results for Pages only the only result was one dubbed 1-800-flowers-screwed-u-2? (albeit with 0 fans). I finally found the official Facebook Page when I added “.com” to the search query, but at first sight it seems currently people are using social media more often against the company than vice versa.

Anyway, this is what the company’s Facebook shop looks like:

1-800-FLOWERS.COM has teamed up with ad network / app developer Alvenda to bring its store to a potentially massive audience on Facebook (although only some 1530 people have become a fan of the florist shop’s Page so far). I’m told future versions of the store will integrate more robust social features, including birthday calendars and group gift giving options.

Currently, 1-800-FLOWERS accepts payment with all major credit cards, but it’s conceivable that it will be quick to implement Facebook’s upcoming proprietary payment platform, which is currently being tested with a handful of developers.

To conclude, a tip: when you become a fan of the retailer’s Facebook Page, you get a discount code. Happy flower shopping!